#3-203
Memorandum for the Surgeon General [Magee]
(Attention General McNarney)
May 22, 1942 [Washington, D.C.]
General Arnold is very much disturbed over the fact that officers who have broken down for physical reasons to such an extent that he has little use of their services over long periods, are returned to him for limited duty under the paragraph of the Army Regulations relating to this phase of physical disability. As I understand it, the particular paragraph of the proviso was written in so that we would not lose the services of men who were incapacitated in such a manner that they could not do full physical duty but were thoroughly able—within certain limits—to give full mental, and possibly supervisory service.
With only superficial knowledge of the facts, it would seem to me that retirement boards are misconstruing this paragraph by returning for limited duty men who are affected nervously or through the heart in such a manner that they quickly break down under heavy strain—office or otherwise. This, I think, is unfortunate. Then there is the type who have grown sluggish mentally. These are even harder to deal with from his point of view and a hindrance rather than a help on limited duty.
This is growing to be a very serious matter, and I would like you to look into it from a realistic point of view. A man who has lost a leg or an arm or an eye (like Wavell) could continue to render very important service, but heart, nerves, and arterial-sclerosis (I suppose I am using this term correctly) affect the issue quite differently.1
Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed memorandum.
1. The Personnel Division, G-1, defended the adequacy of the instructions for limited duty assignment, insisting that improper reassignments resulted from poor administration. Disposition boards often received incomplete information and made reassignments without full consideration of the officer's status. With Stimson's approval, G-1 drafted a memorandum for the Military Personnel Division of the Services of Supply in order to improve this administrative procedure. (Hilldring Memorandum for the Chief of Staff, May 26, 1942, NA/ RG 165 [OCS, 201.6].) Sir Archibald Wavell lost an eye at the battle of Ypres in 1915.
Recommended Citation: The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, ed. Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 210–211.